Mali faces a pressing need for inclusive economic development as overlapping challenges—rising food and fuel costs, climate stress, and ongoing insecurity—continue to strain livelihoods and limit opportunity. Large segments of the population depend on agriculture, yet productivity remains vulnerable to drought and underinvestment. That’s why we are investing in education and resilient farming systems as critical steps toward stabilising the economy. Two weeks go, with funding from supporters in Mali, we began the setup of a new market garden near the village of Sébougou, in the Ségou region of Mali.
On April 26th, we broke ground with the installation of the first part of the irrigation system. Featuring a solar powered bore drill and gravity feed tank, this will supply water in a frequently drought stricken region with below average arable land. The tank has capacity for 5kL of borewater.
Soon, this garden will cultivate potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, onions, watermelons and melons to improve the nutritional quality of beneficiary households, with part of each crop sold at nearby markets to give participants an income.
The next steps will involve preparing for the irrigation plumbing to go in and laying out fertiliser. You can see here the foundations of the tower uses a mixture of cement layered over wood pulp to act as a natural insecticide.
Silvopasture is a key element of our sustainable practices, so we are also purchasing a small herd of cows to be pastured nearby. Their manure will be used as a natural fertilizer and milk will further improve the nutritional intake of refugee women and their children with surplus to be sold alongside the produce.
We’ll be continuing work for the irrigation system over the next week, as well as setting up fencing and preparing for the first planting. Please support our work!